EWG Skin Deep® | What is XANTHAN GUM

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED®

Data: Fair

Xanthan Gum

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

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Other Concerns

SYNONYMS

● CORN SUGAR GUM

● POLYSACCHARIDE B 1459

● XANTHAN

● XANTHAN GUM

Restricted

Restricted: EWG VERIFIED products cannot contain this ingredient without adequate substantiation

Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide, a sugar-based polymer produced by bacteria; it is used as a viscosity agent in personal care products and foods.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

LOW

Cancer
LOW

Allergies & Immunotoxicity
LOW

Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
LOW

Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

CONCERNS
DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

facial moisturizer/treatment	872 products
mask	761 products
moisturizer	624 products
serums & essences	598 products
foundation	404 products
facial cleanser	376 products
toothpaste	349 products
recreational sunscreen	254 products
around-eye cream	252 products
daily use with SPF	242 products
hand cream	190 products
exfoliant/scrub	178 products
concealer	159 products
body wash/cleanser	154 products
mascara	151 products
shampoo	120 products
eye liner	93 products
brow liner	92 products
hair treatment/serum	81 products
eye shadow	76 products
baby lotion	75 products
makeup primer	75 products
bronzer/highlighter	62 products
anti-aging	57 products
toners/astringents	57 products
blush	57 products
sunless tanning	47 products
	47 products
hair color and bleaching	46 products
conditioner	44 products
BB cream	40 products
baby wipes	37 products
hair styling aide	34 products
baby soap	32 products
baby shampoo	32 products
body firming lotion	31 products
styling gel/lotion	27 products
antiperspirant/deodorant	27 products
liquid hand soap	26 products
lipstick	24 products
after sun product	23 products
foot moisturizer	22 products
baby toothpaste	22 products
makeup remover	21 products
baby bubble bath	20 products
muscle/joint soreness	19 products
skin fading/lightener	19 products
lip gloss	19 products
baby sunscreen	19 products
after shave	17 products
lip balm	13 products
tooth whitening	12 products
bath oil/salts/soak	12 products
setting powder/spray	10 products
beard cleanser	8 products
shaving cream	6 products
bubble bath	6 products
bar soap	6 products
detangler	6 products
CC cream	6 products
tanning oil	6 products
nail treatment	5 products
shaving cream (men's)	5 products
hair spray	5 products
hand sanitizer	4 products
lip plumper	4 products
damaged skin treatment	4 products
mouthwash	3 products
foot cleansing	3 products
diaper cream	3 products
body oil	3 products
eyelash glue	3 products
body spray	3 products
beard care	3 products
body cleansing wipes	3 products
oil controller	2 products
cuticle treatment	2 products
hair-loss treatment	2 products
other eye makeup	2 products
foot odor control	2 products
eye makeup remover	1 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)	1 products
styling mousse/foam	1 products
hair removal waxes	1 products
depilatory	1 products
makeup removing wipes	1 products
facial cleansing wipes	1 products

Multiple, additive exposure sources

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Everything Added to Food
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in food	FDA Food Additive Status

Informational

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - any	Open scientific literature

Data gaps

CONCERN	REFERENCE
1095 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemical	NLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxin	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

CONCERN	REFERENCE
Classified as not expected to be potentially toxic or harmful	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as a low human health priority	Environment Canada Domestic Substance List

FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) 2006. Food Additive Status List. Downloaded from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/opa-appa.html, Oct 16, 2006.
Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.
EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED^® mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST

Low Availability

Moderate Availability

High Availability